00:00Well, thank you very much.
00:26Well, this is a nice building, I have to tell you.
00:31So this is a special occasion for a lot of reasons.
00:34But number one is it's our first occasion in this building
00:39using it for peace.
00:41And it's all about peace.
00:42And it's a great honor.
00:44And, Marco, you've done a fantastic job in getting it ready.
00:47But it's a spectacular building, and we all appreciate it.
00:53And very importantly, we're settling a war
00:55that's been going on for decades with millions
01:00and millions of people killed.
01:03And these two gentlemen spent a lot of time backstage
01:07talking to each other and over at the Oval Office.
01:09We were at the Oval Office together.
01:10It was beautiful.
01:12And I think it's just a very important day.
01:15And we have other leaders from other countries.
01:17And you said such beautiful things.
01:19I'd love to have you come up.
01:20We'll finish up.
01:21And then I'd love to have you come up.
01:23And if you can issue the words that you just issued backstage,
01:28it usually doesn't work.
01:29You know, it usually never happens.
01:31They said it much better before.
01:33But you will probably do better up here.
01:35But I'd love to have you say how you felt,
01:38because it is an amazing day.
01:40Great day for Africa.
01:42Great day for the world and for these two countries.
01:45And they have so much to be proud of.
01:48And I want to thank the leaders.
01:49I want to thank you very much.
01:51It means maybe more because we are here together
01:55for the first time ever in this building.
01:57Brand-new, beautiful building.
01:59I can't — I don't want to tell you how much it costs,
02:01because I hear it's a lot, okay?
02:03They don't build inexpensively here.
02:06But I just want to thank you very much.
02:08So, please, sit down, everybody.
02:10I want to thank everybody for being here.
02:15It's a momentous occasion.
02:16It's a truly incredible setting.
02:20It's — very few places I've seen like this.
02:24In this holy season, we prepare to celebrate
02:26the birth of the Prince of Peace.
02:29We have come to the U.S. Institute of Peace
02:33to sign a historic agreement that will end
02:35one of the longest-running conflicts anywhere in the world,
02:39with far more than 10 million people killed.
02:43Today, we commit to stopping decades of violence and bloodshed
02:46and to begin a new era of harmony and cooperation
02:49between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
02:54I want to thank the two courageous leaders.
02:57They are courageous leaders.
02:59They really are courageous leaders.
03:00Great people.
03:02President Chisekite of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
03:08and President Kagame of Rwanda.
03:13They are amazing people.
03:17And they had stories to tell me that were incredible.
03:20And really fascinating in so many different ways.
03:25Sad and beautiful.
03:26Both sad and beautiful.
03:28And today makes them beautiful.
03:31I've just held really fantastic meetings
03:34with both men and representatives of other countries
03:38where we discussed the importance of upholding this new agreement.
03:43Very detailed, powerful agreement.
03:46I also want to thank several foreign guests
03:48and dignitaries in attendance
03:50to celebrate this magnificent event,
03:53including the President of Angola.
03:56Please, would you stand?
03:57And it's so great to see you.
04:04The President of Burundi.
04:06Thank you very much.
04:08Great to see you again.
04:12The President of Kenya.
04:16We have the Olympics here.
04:17You know, they do very well in the Olympics.
04:21Those runners, I don't know what the heck you do with those runners.
04:24But they are very good.
04:26I've been watching them for a long time.
04:28So we have the Olympics coming to the United States.
04:30You know that.
04:31Thank you very much.
04:31And you'll come as our guest.
04:34And the President of the Council of Ministers of Togo.
04:40Thank you very much.
04:44The Vice President of Uganda.
04:52It's such a beautiful color.
04:53Like, all these guys are wearing these dark suits.
04:56You just stand out for a lot of reasons.
04:58You're beautiful.
05:01The Foreign Ministers of Qatar.
05:06Thank you very much.
05:07Say hello to my friend, a great man.
05:12And the United Arab Emirates.
05:19My regards, right?
05:20And the Chairman of the African Union Commission, who's done a fantastic job.
05:27And thank you for all your help.
05:28We appreciate all your help.
05:30A special group of people.
05:32A very special thanks, as well, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
05:37Marco, please stand.
05:39And thank you for putting a certain name on that building.
05:45I came, I said, boy, that is beautiful.
05:47That blew up last night.
05:48They said, that's a great honor.
05:51It really is.
05:52On this building, it's a great honor.
05:53Thank you very much.
05:54I assume you had a lot to do with that.
05:56Just a little bit, yeah.
05:59Appreciate it.
06:00And Senior Advisor for Africa, Mossad Boulos, who's been fantastic.
06:05Thank you, Mossad.
06:06All of these people, every one of them, were indispensable in forging this agreement.
06:11Let me also recognize Senators Mike Rounds and Lindsey Graham.
06:15Lindsey, thank you.
06:17Mike, wherever you may be.
06:20Thank you, Mike.
06:20Representative Ronny Jackson.
06:24Where's Ronny?
06:25Ronny is a great guy.
06:27He won his race in Texas by 48 points.
06:30Right, Ronny?
06:31I don't have to ask if he's in any — I don't even have to endorse him anymore.
06:35It doesn't matter.
06:36Save the paper.
06:37Right?
06:38Great job.
06:39Chris Smith.
06:40Chris?
06:41Thank you, Chris.
06:43Great.
06:44Good job.
06:45Trent Kelly?
06:46Trent?
06:47Thank you very much.
06:51And the Acting President of the Institute for Peace, Darren Beattie.
06:56Thank you, Darren, very much.
06:58Thank you very much, Darren.
07:01For more than 30 years, one of the worst conflicts on Earth has been raging in Eastern
07:07Congo.
07:08Millions and millions of people have been tragically killed — went on forever — and countless
07:14more have been displaced from their homes.
07:16Families have been destroyed.
07:17It's been a disaster.
07:19Many administrations have tried, but probably not too hard, knowing who preceded me.
07:27But they've tried.
07:28It says they've tried.
07:29But we tried harder to end this conflict.
07:33But they've accomplished — obviously, they accomplished very little, because the killing
07:38went on at levels that just got worse and worse.
07:41And today, we're succeeding, where so many others have failed.
07:45And this has become the eighth war that we've ended in less than one year.
07:50Such an exciting thing to do.
07:52This has been a really — because we're talking about 30 years of fighting — 30 years,
07:57much more than 10 million lives.
07:59Last June, thanks to the efforts of Secretary Rubio and Mr. Boulos, Rwanda and the DRC reached
08:08a landmark agreement to move toward peace.
08:12They started the process.
08:13I met with some of their great representatives who are here also.
08:17And we started a great process.
08:20The compact we're signing today, which will be known as the Washington Accords — everybody
08:25sort of liked that name — formalizes the terms agreed to in June, including a permanent
08:31ceasefire, the disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their
08:38homes, and justice and accountability for those who have committed illegal atrocities.
08:45Very importantly, this agreement also creates a new framework for economic prosperity.
08:49There's tremendous wealth in those — in that beautiful earth.
08:53It's a beautiful earth.
08:54But it was stained badly with blood — tremendous amounts of blood.
08:59But in the region, they will support a lasting peace.
09:02And the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have agreed to more closely integrate
09:08their economies with each other rather than fighting.
09:12And they'll be doing that.
09:13And these two gentlemen are very smart.
09:16And I think they liked each other a lot.
09:20I spent time with them.
09:21I think they liked — some people may be surprised.
09:24I really do.
09:25I think they've spent a lot of time killing each other.
09:31And now they're going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands, and taking advantage
09:36of the United States of America economically, like every other country does.
09:41So they're going to do very well.
09:43But they do have some valuable — some very valuable things.
09:47They're going to have a lot of money and a lot of success.
09:50And I think they're going to get along really well.
09:53So I hope so.
09:54Thank you very much.
09:55Look at them.
09:56Look at the way they love each other.
10:06So I have a lot of confidence in both leaders.
10:08We'll keep these commitments.
10:11I know they're going to keep them and follow through on the agreement and create a much brighter
10:15future for the people of their countries.
10:17And they're heroes within their countries because of today.
10:20And a lot of — this is a big story.
10:22And so much is being written and said.
10:26All of the newscasts have it at the top of the list.
10:29And they are heroes.
10:31And we want to keep it that way.
10:33Today, the United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo
10:38and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals
10:44and provide economic benefits for everybody.
10:48And we'll be involved.
10:49We're sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries.
10:56And we're going to take out some of the rare earth and take out some of the assets and pay.
11:02And everybody's going to make a lot of money.
11:05These are just two of the many new agreements related to mineral supplies that my administration has achieved this year,
11:12including with Australia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, South Korea, and many other countries.
11:21And with all of these agreements, we're forging new economic security partnerships
11:26that protect the interests of America and our friends and partners.
11:29And a core feature of my administration's national security strategy,
11:33a big part of which is the tariffs.
11:35We're taking in trillions of dollars in tariffs.
11:38Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
11:40And it's given us really great national security.
11:44We'll be paying down debt.
11:46We'll be making distributions to people.
11:49And we're really — we're really doing a job.
11:54It's amazing.
11:55I was with a gentleman, the future king of Saudi Arabia.
12:00And you've heard me say this a couple of times.
12:03But two months ago, when I was over there, he said —
12:08and actually Qatar is represented today, and you — UAE is represented.
12:13And your leader said the exact same thing — different words, but the exact same thing.
12:17That one year ago, they thought our country was dead.
12:21And now our country is the hottest country anywhere in the world.
12:24We're the hottest country anywhere in the world.
12:26Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
12:28We have over $18 trillion — that's just in 10 months — pledged or being invested
12:35or pledged to be invested in the United States.
12:38Think of that — $18 trillion.
12:40The highest amount we've ever had is one and a half.
12:43Under the Biden administration, they did much less than one in four years.
12:47Think of that.
12:48So they did less than $1 trillion in four years.
12:51We have $18 trillion in 10 months.
12:53It's going to be much more than that, too.
12:55No other country in history has ever been closed, no matter what country you pick.
13:00So I want to thank you again, everybody, for your great vision.
13:05And I want to thank the people, especially the people that we named — some of the others
13:11that, unfortunately, we didn't name.
13:13We just couldn't do that.
13:15But for your vision and for your courage, because it's made it possible to begin healing old wounds
13:22and transcending past differences and creating a future where every child of God can live in dignity, prosperity, and peace.
13:30And these are two very good men, and they're two very — potentially very strong countries.
13:37I'd like to now invite President Kagume to come up and say a few words.
13:44It's Rwanda.
13:45And then, if I may, President of DRC, who really is doing a great job.
13:52These are two men that are doing a great job.
13:54And, again, they are so respected because of what they're doing today and the mission that they've really, I think, accomplished.
14:03And we'll see how it all works out, but I think it's going to work out really great.
14:07They want to get on to other ways of living for their people and their great leaders.
14:12Thank you very much.
14:13Please, Mr. President.
14:16Thank you very much.
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